CSC 443: IT Project Management Midterm 1 exam - Spring semester 2011-2012 March 21 st, 2012

King Saud University College of Computer & Information Sciences Department of Computer Science CSC 443: IT Project Management Midterm 1 exam - Spring semester 2011-2012 March 21 st, 2012 1- Decomposing the major deliverables into smaller, more manageable components to provide better control is called: a. Scope planning. b. Scope definition. c. Scope baselining. d. Scope verification. Scope definition is defined by PMI as decomposing the major deliverables into smaller, more manageable components to provide better control. 2- A person who is involved in or may be affected by the activities or anyone who has something to gain or lose by the activity of the project is called a: a. Team member. b. Customer. c. Stakeholder. d. Supporter. A stakeholder is an individual or organization that is involved in or may be affected by project activities. 3- During execution, a resource is added to the project team. What effect will this have on the project? a. The effect cannot be determined. b. The project duration will be shortened. c. A scope change will be required. d. The quality of the project will be increased. 4- Which of the following is NOT a source of information about specific project constraints and assumptions? a. The project scope management plan b. The project charter c. The preliminary scope statement d. The project stakeholders The project scope management plan is a really important tool in your project. It tells you exactly how you ll create the project scope, define the WBS, verify that the work has been done, and make changes to the scope. But it doesn t tell you about specific assumptions that you and the team have made, or constraints on your project. To find those, you should look in the charter and preliminary scope statement - and talk to the stakeholders, because they ll definitely tell you about constraints on your project. 5- The adjustment of task schedule in order to deploy human resources more effectively is called resource: a. Fast tracking. b. Loading. CSC443 2011-2012 Spring Semester Midterm 1 Exam Dr. Safwan Qasem Page 1

c. Crashing. d. Leveling. 6- Work packages are described in the: a. Work breakdown structure. b. Work charter. c. Statement of work. d. Work project plan. 7- Ideally, resource leveling should be limited to activities: a. With negative float. b. With zero float. c. On the critical path. d. With positive float 8- A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a new product or service is called a: a. New product development. b. Project. c. Program. d. Enterprise. 9- A team member approaches you with a change that could cut your schedule down by a month. What is the first thing you should do? a. Write up a change request and see if you can get it approved. b. Make the change. It s going to save time and nobody will want the project to take longer than it should. c. Figure out the impact on the scope of the work and the cost before you write up the change request. d. Tell the team member that you ve already communicated the deadline for the project, so you can t make any changes now. Just because the change will help the project s timeline doesn t mean that it will be an overall benefit to the project. It s important to check how the project will impact the other two constraints as part of your change request. Once you know all the facts about the change, the change control board can make an informed decision about how to proceed. 10- When are the most expensive defects most likely to be introduced into a product? a. When the product is being assembled b. When the product is being designed c. When the quality management plan is being written d. When the product is being reviewed by the customers CSC443 2011-2012 Spring Semester Midterm 1 Exam Dr. Safwan Qasem Page 2

The most expensive defects are the ones introduced when the product is being designed. This is a little counterintuitive at first, but it really makes sense once you think about how projects are run. If your team introduces a defect into a product while it s being assembled, then they have to go back and fix it. But if there s a flaw in the design, then you have to halt production and go back and figure out all the things that flaw affected. You may have to order new parts, reassemble components, and maybe even go back and redesign the product from the ground up. 11- A project manager is creating a work breakdown structure for her project. In the breakdown structure the lowest level of the breakdown for the project manager is called the: a. Activity. b. Task. c. Work package. d. Cost account. In the work breakdown structure the lowest level of breakdown is the work package. This does not mean that work cannot be divided any further. Work packages are usually broken down into tasks, and tasks can be further broken down into activities. The point here is that the project manager is concerned about things down to the work package level. In a relatively large project the project manager would have subproject managers or work package managers who would further breakdown the work in their own work breakdown structures. 12- A project manager has just become the manager of a project. The document that recognizes the existence of the project is called: a. The statement of work. b. The project assignment. c. The project charter. d. The product description. A project charter is a document that formally recognizes the existence of a project. It should include, either directly or by reference to other documents, the business need that the project was undertaken to address and the product description. 13- During the life of a project, the project will go through several phases initiating, planning, execution, and closeout. Which phase of the project is likely to have the greatest amount of its funding spent? a. Initiating b. Planning c. Executing d. Closeout The execution phase of projects will nearly always cost the bulk of the project budget. This is because there are more people working on the project, and they are spending more money than at other times. 14- A project manager works in a company favoring the weakest authority for the project manager. The type of organization that holds the project manager to be the weakest is: a. Projectized organization. b. Strong matrix organization. c. Weak matrix organization. d. Balanced matrix organization. CSC443 2011-2012 Spring Semester Midterm 1 Exam Dr. Safwan Qasem Page 3

Balance is the strength or weakness of the project manager to have authority over the people who actually do the work in the project. In the projectized organization the project manager has complete authority over the people on the project team. In the strong matrix organization the project manager has more influence over the people on the project team than the functional manager. In the weak matrix organization the functional manager has more authority to direct the project team members than the project manager. In a balanced matrix organization the project manager and the functional manager are at about the same authority level. 15- The change management plan should be included in which of the following? a. Scope management plan b. Communications management plan c. Configuration management plan d. Quality management plan The change management plan is generally a document or procedure that is normally found in the scope management plan. 16- A project team has made up the work breakdown structure for a project. Senior management for the company and all of the stakeholders including the client, have approved the WBS. The client later requests that a change be made in the project, which will cost a considerable amount of money. The client says that the company s salesman promised this feature prior to sign-off on the WBS. Who should pay for the change? a. The client should pay. b. The company managing the project should pay. c. Both the company and the client should pay part of the cost. d. The change should not be implemented. The client should pay, because the signing of the WBS constituted an agreement between the company managing the project and the client. Work that is not specified in the WBS is not part of the project scope. In reality this is sometimes not the case. Companies will frequently do work that is outside of the project scope as defined by the WBS in order to ensure the goodwill of the client. But this is not a legal obligation. 17- A project manager is managing a software development project for a hospital. There is a new computer available that will speed up the development process considerably. The new computer costs $50,000 including shipping, installation, and start-up. The computer will cause a gross savings of $100,000. What is the net present value of the savings if they occur one year after the expenditure for the computer? Assume a 10% interest rate. a. $90,000 b. $40,909 c. $45,555 d. $91,110 The calculation for net present value is based on the compound interest formula. FV _ PV ( 1+ r )n Where FV is future value and PV is present value. Solving this for the present value gives: PV _ FV / (1+ r ) n CSC443 2011-2012 Spring Semester Midterm 1 Exam Dr. Safwan Qasem Page 4

NPV= -50,000 + (100,000 / 1.1 ) = 40,909 Note that all the negative cash flows occur at the beginning of the year when the machine is purchased and that the positive cash flows all occur at the end of one year. 18- A project manager is managing a project during the planning phase. She chooses to use a precedence network diagram as a graphic planning tool to assist in making the project schedule. The most important reason for using the network diagram as a graphic planning tool is that it makes it easier to see which aspect of the project plan better than the other tools available? a. The probability that the tasks will be completed on time b. The logical relationships between activities in the schedule c. The start and finish dates of the activities d. The float between activities The precedence network diagramming tool is used because it best shows the logical relationships between the activities in the schedule. The Gantt chart shows the project schedule graphically indicating the start and finish for each activity. The milestone chart shows the start or completion for specific groups of activities on a summarized chart. 19. Your company creates software products. It is introducing a new product. To determine the characteristics and features of the new product line, you will have to perform which of the following? a. Progressive elaboration b. Stake holder's review c. Plan project life cycle d. Fast tracking 20. You are a project manager of ABC company and you are working for a large project with more than hundreds of stakeholders. Which of the following BEST course of action you are going to take? a. Consider needs of all stakeholders. b. Consider needs of important stakeholders. c. Eliminate some of them. d. Ask your manager to manage the stakeholders. 21. A project schedule can be presented in various formats. All of the following are valid formats of the project schedule EXCEPT: a. b. c. d. e. Activity-on-node diagram Gant bar chart Time-scaled schedule network diagram Milestone charts Flow charts 22. What kind of a relationship is implied when completion of a successor is dependent on initiation of its predecessor? a. b. c. d. FS FF SS SF The following should be used for questions 23 through 25. CSC443 2011-2012 Spring Semester Midterm 1 Exam Dr. Safwan Qasem Page 5

A project manager is assigned to a project early in the project life cycle. One of the things that must be done is to do a justification for the project. Since very little information is known about the project, the estimates are considered to be rough estimates. The following table is the project manager s estimate of the cash flows that will take place over the next five years. 23. What is the payback period for this project? a. One year b. Two years c. Three years d. Four years The actual payback period is between two years and three years. It is the point where the net or cumulative cash flows equal zero. This occurs between year 2 and 3 and is 2 and 29/30 of a year from the first cash flow. Cumulative cash flow in years are: 1, -500,000; 2, -290,000; 3, +10,000. 24. What is the net cash flow at the end of five years? a. $50,000 b. -$50,000 c. $850,000 d. $100,000 The net cash flow is the total of all the cash flows in and out of the company caused by the project. In this example 850,000 in and 900,000 out for a negative 50,000. 25. If the net present value for each of the cash flows were calculated at a 10% interest rate, the net present value cash flow at the end of five years would be: a. Greater than the total cash flow without the net present value applied. b. Less than the total cash flow without the net present value applied. c. The same as the total cash flow without the net present value applied. d. Unable to be calculated with the information supplied. Calculating the net present value of the cash flows for the project involves adjusting the future cash flows to allow for diminishing value due to the time that we must wait to get them. Money received today is more valuable to us than money that is received in the future. CSC443 2011-2012 Spring Semester Midterm 1 Exam Dr. Safwan Qasem Page 6

The following information and questions 22 through 30 refer to Figure below. A schedule was developed for a project to install windows in an apartment building. The project is a rush job, and the contractor has agreed to schedule the work on a single shift basis but will work seven days per week until the job is done. The project is to begin on May 1. 26. What day in May will activity D have for its early finish date? a. May 13 b. May 6 c. May 7 d. May 5 Note that activities in a calendar schedule start on the beginning of the time period that they start on and end at the end of the time period that they finish on. A two-day activity starts on May 5 and ends on May 6, ES and EF. 27. What is the free float for activity F? a. 6 b. 7 c. 0 d. 8 The free float or slack is the amount of time that an activity can be delayed before it affects the schedule of any other activity. Activity F has free float but activity D does not. Both have seven days of float, total float, or plain old float. When calculating schedules and float with leads and lags, it is best to look at the next activity with no lead or lag and, after determining the dates, change them by the amount of the lead or lag. 28. What is the free float for activity D? a. 6 b. 7 c. 8 d. 0 The free float or slack is the amount of time that an activity can be delayed before it affects the schedule of any other activity. Activity F has free float but activity D does not. Both have seven days of float, total float, or plain old float. CSC443 2011-2012 Spring Semester Midterm 1 Exam Dr. Safwan Qasem Page 7

29. What is the critical path of the project? a. A B E G H b. A B D F H c. A C G H d. A B E D F H Critical path is the list of activities that have zero total float. It is dangerous to find the path that has the longest sum of the durations. Path A B D F H has a duration of eight days but has a sum of the durations of ten days. 30. What is the late start for activity F? a. May 10 b. May 11 c. May 12 d. May 14 The late start for activity F is May 12. It has a late start that is calculated to be two days before the late finish of activity D. With leads and lags it is best to calculate the LS of the dependent activity, then the LF of the independent activity, and then adjust the LF of the independent activity to consider the FS lead. 31. How long is the project in days? a. Nineteen b. Twenty c. Twenty-one d. Eighteen The first work of the project is done on May 1, and the last work of the project is finished on May 20. 32. What is the early start for activity F? a. May 7 b. May 6 c. May 5 d. May 4 There is a lead of two days associated with the finish-start relationship between activities D and F. If the relationship were a normal FS relationship, the ES of activity F would be May 7. A twoday lead means it will start two days earlier, or May 5. 33. If there is a delay in activity F of six days, what is the effect on the project completion date? a. Increases one day b. No change to project completion date c. Increases two days d. Increases three days 34. What is the early finish date of activity A? a. May 1 CSC443 2011-2012 Spring Semester Midterm 1 Exam Dr. Safwan Qasem Page 8

b. May 2 c. May 3 d. May 4 The early finish date of activity A is the same as its start date and the start of the project. Activities start on the beginning of the time period that work begins and end on the end of the time period that work finishes. This activity takes one day beginning in the morning of May 1 and finishing in the afternoon of May 1. 35. A project manager has been asked by the client to meet the promise date of the project. The project manager analyzes the schedule before promising a date to the customer. The project manager uses the program evaluation and review technique to evaluate the project schedule. She decides that based on the results of the PERT calculations she can promise a delivery date of June 30. The expected value of the project completion date is May 30. If the project manager is willing to accept a 5% probability that the project will be delivered later than June 30, what is the standard deviation of the durations of the activities on the critical path? Assume a five-day workweek. a. Ten days b. Fifteen days c. One-half month d. One month In order for the project to have a 5% probability of being late, there is a 95% probability that the project will be delivered on time or earlier. In terms of the PERT calculation this means that 2 standard deviations should be added to the expected value date of May 30. Since there is a one month difference between the 95% promise date of June 30 and the expected value of May 30, the standard deviation must be one-half month. This is a better answer than fifteen days because on the basis of a five-day workweek this is close to three weeks. CSC443 2011-2012 Spring Semester Midterm 1 Exam Dr. Safwan Qasem Page 9